Syrian Army forces captured a terrorist concentration center in Dara’a al-Balad, a number of enemy strongholds in Hama province, and a score of terrorist gathering centers in the town of Manbaj in Aleppo province. Syrian artillery also hit terrorist positions in the village of Mansoura.

Recent advances have been enhanced by Russian air cover, to include attack helicopter and fixed wing close air support, which began on September 30th of last year at the request of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

China is also considering intervention in the War in Syria, the Washington Free Beacon said Wednesday, which left a defense official quoted by the Washington Times asking, not when they will enter, but on whose side.

Recent economic and political alliances by Beijing, lead many to speculate that China will choose to enter on the side of Russian, instead of joining forces with the US-led coalition, that many believe is providing material support for ISIS instead of destroying them.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter confirmed Wednesday, while addressing soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, that the U.S.has commandos on the ground in Syria, engaged in covert intelligence-gathering, targeting of enemy forces, and providing advice and assistance to local rebel forces.

Carter said that “the most elite” U.S. forces and their support, “sends an unmistakable message to both ISIL and moderate Syrian opposition—that the United States and the coalition it leads will prevail in this fight.”

The objective of deploying the commandos Carter said, was to create a “virtuous cycle of action” to bolster local Syrian rebel forces, though he did not specifically identify who those forces were, or the difference between those and the ISIS forces occupying Syrian oil fields.

AMERICA IS LOOSING ALLIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AS RUSSIA BECOMES ALLIES AND TAKES OVER THE DOMINANT PARTNER ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Russia, Jordan agree on military coordination on Syria

Jordan’s King Abdullah (L) speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, August 25, 2015.

REUTERS/PAVEL GOLOVKIN/POOL

Russia and Jordan have agreed to coordinate their military actions on Syria by setting up a “special working mechanism” in the Jordanian capital Amman, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

Russia, which is bombing rebel targets in Syria in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad, has already forged close cooperation with the governments of Iraq, Syria and Iran, which are all part of a loose Shi’ite alliance pursuing different aims from those of the United States and its allies.

Jordan, however, is Sunni-dominated and closely aligned with Washington, so Moscow’s deal with Jordan could mark a shift in the alliances engaged in the Syria conflict.

“The military of the two countries have agreed to coordinate their actions through a working mechanism in Amman, capital of Jordan,” Lavrov said in comments broadcast by Rossiya-24 television channel.

“We think that other states that participate in the anti- terrorist fight can join this mechanism as well,” Lavrov added.

Lavrov, who gave no further details, was speaking in Vienna, where he was attending talks with senior officials from the United States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to explore a political solution to Syria’s civil war.

Russia has rejected Western calls for Assad to step down, saying Syria’s leadership can only be decided by the Syrian people via elections, and in the clearest sign of its backing, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted him in Moscow this week.

Iraq authorises Russia to strike Islamic State inside country

The Iraqi government authorised Russia to target Islamic State group convoys coming from Syria, a senior Iraqi official said.

The authorisation for Russia to target IS inside Iraq comes amid security coordination between Iraq, Russia, Iran and Syria.

Hakem al-Zamli, chief of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, told Anadolu Agency on Friday that the measure contributed to weakening IS by cutting off its supply routes.

Earlier this month, Iraqi security officials told MEE that Russia would likely be invited to bomb IS within their country because the US-led coalition air strikes have proved slow and ineffective, largely because stringent protocols were followed.

“They [the US-led coalition] refuse to strike private cars, mosques, bridges, schools despite the fact Daesh militants are mainly using these places as headquarters,” a senior military officer, who declined to be named, told MEE, using an Arabic acronym to refer to IS.

The US-led rules, which enforces verification of targets, regularly give IS militants time to save their supplies, equipment and fighters, they said.

“This is an exceptional war and our enemy has no rules,” one of the officers said. “How [can] you ask me to stick to the rules while my enemy is brutally killing my people every day, enslaving my sisters and destroy my towns and cities?

“Russians have no red lines, no complicated and restricted rules, so it would be easy for us to deal with them,” he said.